Duncan and the Garden Shed
by bbll22
Summary: Duncan is perhaps the grumpiest engine on Sodor. From time to time, he still has his old habit of Rock 'n' Rolling on the line, but one line in particular doesn't like him...so will Duncan and the Abbey Line get along at all?


Lee's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Stories

**Duncan and the Garden Shed**

Duncan is perhaps the grumpiest engine on the whole of Sodor. He is constantly moaning about something very tedious and this annoys everyone else very much so. His habit of Rock 'n' Rolling on the line still occurs and this annoys Mr. Percival a lot. He has warned Duncan numerous times, but he hasn't learnt. He's even enlisted some of the other engines on his railway to try and talk Duncan out his really bad habit, but they've all failed so far. Only Neil remains, and with him being a Scottish engine like Duncan, he might have a chance.

"Been busy much, Duncan?" asked Neil when they were both at the sheds.

"Oh aye!" replied Duncan. "It's as busy as I've ever been before! It's exhausting!" he then added. Neil then wondered how he could bring in the topic of Duncan's Rock 'n' Rolling, but his best effort was.

"Any lines causing trouble of late?"  
"Well...there is one..." replied Duncan "The Abbey line, by those houses, its becoming very rickety!" he then added. Neil was secretly thinking that the line was rickety due to Duncan's Rock 'n' Rolling, but he didn't want to anger Duncan, so he didn't say it.

"I've got to go back down that line later today..." Duncan then mentioned. "I hope its better then!" Duncan laughed at this, Neil didn't. Duncan then set off as he wanted to prepare for his duty later on in the day. Neil just looked on and relaxed as he had a day off.

Duncan was steaming along the line with plenty of time to spare before his Cattle train duty began, so he went back down to the Abbey line to see it was rickety this time. As he went along the line, he noticed the houses either side of it with their gardens in full view. There was also a steep slope in between the line and houses too. Each house looked beautiful as it had an individual look that suited the owners. One house had a Greenhouse, another had wonderful flowers decorated around their garden and another had a garden shed right at the end of the garden. Duncan didn't like this garden shed, he said it was ugly and had purpose as he'd never seen anyone go in or out of it.

"It's a waste of space!" he remarked to his driver

"Never mind that Duncan! Just be glad the line isn't rickety now!" his driver then replied. Duncan agreed, so they made their way back to the station to collect the Cattle train for one of the local farmers. When he arrived at the station, he was early enough to have a rest and just relax. Sir Handel and Peter Sam were jealous of this and as they passed him, they whooshed steam at him.

"Ignorant!" cried out Duncan as he was stirred by the steam. Sir Handel and Peter Sam just laughed to themselves while Duncan's face turned red with anger, he was furious!

The time then came for Duncan and his Cattle train to make their way to the destination. He set off in high spirits as because the Abbey line was rickety, he was in a very, very happy mood. This surprised his driver and the other engines he passed along the way. Fearless Freddie was very confused.

"That is Duncan isn't it?" he asked to both himself and his driver. Neither spoke after this, they just watched as Duncan passed with a big, beaming smile across his face. This was very unusual indeed. Duncan was making very good progress on his duty and was looking to be right on time, but Duncan wanted to be early so that he could have a longer rest, so his habit started again. He rocked and he rolled as he carried on down the line and the cattle train rattled along with him. He passed Rusty along the way, and Rusty wasn't happy at all.

"Duncan!" he called "Be careful!"

"What does he know?" muttered Duncan to himself "He's only a Diesel!"

"I thought you were friends with him?" questioned his driver

"No" retorted Duncan. "Neil is! He's Scottish, therefore he's my friend!" he then added. His driver didn't respond, he just tried to keep control of Duncan and the cattle train as Duncan's Rock 'n' Rolling got more vigorous. Soon enough, Duncan was approaching the Abbey Line, and his Rock 'n' Rolling wasn't calming down at all, infact he made it more dangerous to prove a point, but then it happened.

"Duncan!" cried his driver.

"Oh no!" cried Duncan as he came off the line, slid down the slope, broke through a garden fence and went ploughing through the garden shed that he felt was ugly. It smashed and wood flew through the air and landed on the garden.

"Oh dear..." said Duncan "I appear to have had an accident..." His buffers were dented and his wheels were displaced, but the most awful thing to happen was that the owner of the house for who the garden shed belonged to was now shouting at Duncan's driver and fireman.

"You stupid people! You've destroyed my shed! My shed!" he shouted at them.

"We're terribly sorry, Sir" said Duncan's driver. The angry man didn't accept the apology, he just kept shouting at them. It was understandable as he did no longer have a garden shed, there was a engine in his garden and there were several cattle trucks littered all around his garden. Anyone would be angry with this, even Duncan understood this was an acceptable time to be angry. This was a rarity.

Meanwhile, back at the sheds, the call had just come in and Neil had been assigned to clear up the situation. He wasn't very happy at all.

"I knew this would happen!" he said to his driver. He agreed as he wasn't surprised at all. They soon arrived at the scene of the accident. Neil quickly took the surviving cattle trucks out of the way and then he used the winch that had been attached to him to haul Duncan out of the angry man's garden. It took a lot of time, and plenty of effort, but eventually Duncan was back on the line.

"Thankyou Neil!" said Duncan in a timid voice. Neil didn't reply, he was still angry at the fact the accident happened, but he shouted down to the angry man that:

"A recovery crane will be on its way soon to clear up the cattle trucks!". The angry man nodded as a sign of recognition, but after that, he went straight back to moaning at Duncan's driver and fireman. Duncan felt very embarrassed and felt sorry for his driver and fireman. Soon enough, Neil started to reverse down the line to take Duncan back to the sheds, but Duncan had noticed his driver and fireman had been left behind.

"Poor them..." he remarked. "They'll have to walk back!"

When Neil arrived with Duncan in tow at the sheds, Mr. Percival was waiting for them.

"Duncan!" he boomed "You have caused confusion and delay, but most importantly, you have got people angry with my railway! This doesn't make me happy at all!" he continued. Duncan's face was glum as the telling off continued. "For your actions Duncan, you will stay in the sheds for the next few days, and stay here, in disgrace. MightyMac will take on your duties while Rusty and Neil repair the area you have broken!". Once again, Duncan's face stayed glum and he didn't speak, not for the rest of the day, and not at all in the few days he was in disgrace. He just rested in the shed, in complete silence. As for his driver and fireman, well as the repairs took place on the Abbey line, they were occupied as they were rebuilding the angry man's shed.


End file.
